A heated debate has erupted on social media over recent changes made to the Wikipedia entry for Zionism, sparking accusations of historical revisionism.

Users on social media have over the past several 24 hours posted a comparison between the 2023 and 2024 versions of the Wikipedia page, with one user, Liv Lovisa, claiming that "history is being rewritten."

Blake Flayton, a vocal commentator on Jewish and Israeli issues, responded to the post, calling the changes "egregious" and urging someone with expertise to edit the page to reflect what he considers to be a more accurate portrayal.

At the center of the debate are key changes in the language used to describe Zionism, the movement that called for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in what is now Israel.

The 2023 version of the page framed Zionism as a nationalist movement born in the 19th century that sought to secure Jewish self-determination. In contrast, the 2024 version of the entry introduces more charged terminology, describing Zionism as an "ethno-cultural nationalist" movement that engaged in "colonization of a land outside of Europe," with a heightened focus on the resulting conflicts with Palestinian Arabs.

"Zionists wanted to create a Jewish state in Palestine with as much land, as many Jews, and as few Palestinian Arabs as possible," it reads.

Wikipedia lets editors who have gained status on its platform make changes according to various guidelines, which usually ensure a balanced approach. It is unclear what led to the sudden change in the definition.

On its website, Wikipedia says the following on its policies: "Wikipedia has no central editorial board. Contributions are made by a large number of volunteers at their own discretion. Edits are neither the responsibility of the Wikimedia Foundation (the organization that hosts the site) nor of its staff, and edits will not generally be made in response to an email request."

Critics, including Flayton, argue that the new language in the Zionism entry distorts the historical narrative, positioning Zionism in a more negative light by drawing parallels to colonialism and downplaying the movement's core goal of creating a safe homeland for Jewish people.

The use of the term "colonization," in particular, has been a flashpoint, as it evokes a political context that some feel misrepresents the motivations behind the establishment of Israel and overlooks the historical persecution faced by Jews that led to the Zionist movement.

Another Twitter pro-Israel voice, Hen Mazzig, wrote: "The new Wikipedia entry on Zionism isn't just inaccurate, it's downright antisemitic. It asserts that the origin of Ashkenazi Jews is 'highly debated and enigmatic,' echoing Khazar theory, the dangerous lie that Ashkenazi Jews are converts and not descendants of the Jews exiled from the Land of Israel."

He added, "This theory is often weaponized to call Israelis 'colonizers' and thus dehumanize us. In fact, Jewish history of repeated exile and migration from Israel to Europe is incredibly well-documented, as are genetic studies linking our people to the Middle East. Any balanced article discussing Jewish genetics and Israel would mention that. @Wikipedia has become a hate site. I hope they'll change course."

The uproar underscores broader concerns about the influence of Wikipedia, one of the most visited websites in the world, and the potential for bias or misinterpretation regarding politically sensitive topics like Zionism. As a public, user-edited platform, Wikipedia is often subject to scrutiny, especially when it comes to contentious issues like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. With millions of readers relying on the site for information, changes to entries like these can have significant implications for public understanding of historical events and modern geopolitical debates.

Israel Hayom has yet to receive a response from Wikipedia.

Sunday began in Israel with air-raid sirens, sending hundreds of thousands of Israelis to bomb shelters and fortified rooms, after a ground-to-ground missile was launched at the center of the country by the Houthis in Yemen.

But the day ended in the north with the inauguration of a Climate Tech Innovation Center at Kibbutz Machanayim, which was attended by 100 people and projected resilience and optimism.

The new Center, located about 17 miles from the border with Lebanon, is a collaboration between the Israel Innovation Authority, Margalit Startup City, the JVP Foundation, the MIGAL Galilee Research Institute and JNF-USA.

The Center is an adjunct to the Margalit Startup City Galil that was opened three years ago in Kiryat Shmona by serial tech investor Erel Margalit, founder and chairman of JVP and Margalit Startup City, as a base for food and agro-tech startups.

Kiryat Shmona is one of the northern cities whose residents were evacuated in October. Over the past 11 months, it has been the target of hundreds of missile attacks and remains largely deserted.

Margalit told JNS that despite the closure of the physical space in Kiryat Shmona, he and other tech leaders in the north decided, with assistance from JNF-USA and JVP, to do whatever possible to keep the tech community together, both virtually and physically.

“We recognized that if the communities meet, they’ll stay together and there’s a much better chance that they’ll come back if they’re part of a community,” he emphasized.

More than 100 startups were evacuated in the 20-mile area between Kiryat Shmona and Rosh Pina, Margalit noted. Until now, many of the entrepreneurs have been meeting online, in the Galilee and in other parts of Israel outside the immediate war zone. A few months ago, they discovered the light industrial zone of Kibbutz Machanayim, which includes a popular café that became a place for the innovators to meet.

With the help of the collaborating organizations and the Israel Innovation Authority, the Margalit Startup City Galil of Kiryat Shmona spawned the new Climate Tech Innovation Center that will become a hub to encourage development of the north.

“It’s an investment for five years,” Margalit told JNS. "This is in addition to the food and agro-tech initiatives that have already been developed in the Kiryat Shmona region. For the next five years, we’re saying this is where you need to come and create climate tech companies.”

Margalit said that 15,000 people have returned to communities in the area in the past few weeks. He views the investment in the new Center as “the first pole in getting things back in place.”

In his address at the opening, Margalit said: “Today we are launching another home for entrepreneurs who want to stay here—a home for our community of entrepreneurial women who continue to operate from the Galilee; a home for small businesses; and a home for the children of the Galilee who declared to us that studying food tech gives them a sense of home and belonging. The collaborations at the core of the center are the infrastructure for strengthening the ecosystem, for its restoration after the war, and for its growth for decades to come. Together with the entrepreneurs, our Center will be a bridge for the reconstruction of the northern economy, for its strengthening and continued growth in the years to come.”

A number of Galilee-based startups presented their projects at the opening. Among them was Wonder Veggies, which developed patented technology for naturally enriching fruit and vegetables with probiotics. Ripe Guard of Kiryat Shmona showcased its shelf-life prediction system for fruit and vegetables that enables businesses to reduce waste, increase profits and provide better quality produce.

Oded Shamir, co-founder of BING Klima, told JNS that his company combines commercial rooftop greening with solar-power generation. Shamir and his startup are based in Kibbutz Hagoshrim, less than a mile from the Lebanese border. His grandparents, who fled Nazi Germany, were among the founders of the kibbutz, one of the 14 kibbutzim in the Upper Gaillee evacuated in October.

Shamir’s startup proudly displays the same name and logo as his family’s famous toy factory that was founded in Nuremberg in 1863 and became one of the largest in the world.

“My grandparents came to the north in 1935. We were born here and we’re not going anywhere,” Shamir told JNS. “We will build new factories and build companies back up.”

As a key player that has invested millions of dollars over the past two decades in the Galilee as part of the Go North strategic plan to revitalize the area, JNF-USA is a natural partner for the tech development center.

Deb Zaluda, incoming JNF-USA president, told JNS, “We're working with all kinds of players in the north to make it better and even more attractive than it was before. There are lots of dreamers out there and a lot of them are here today. And they're thinking about the future; they're not just thinking about the here and now.”

JNF-USA CEO Russell Robinson told the crowd, “The lives of the residents of the north have become unbearably difficult, but the spirit of innovation and desire to make the world a better place stand firm. We stand by your side today with the launch of the Innovation Center as we have done in the past decades and show the world that even when the forces of darkness seek to extinguish our light, the people of Israel continue to lead with hope and with resilience.”

In separate remarks to JNS, Robinson emphasized that since Oct.7, “years of JNF-USA work to bring 300,000 people to the north have been pushed two steps back and we need to move 20 steps forward. Now we understand that for the future we need to run to move forward, not just take one step at a time. We need to make this area the envy of all Israel. Construction is still going on just outside Kiryat Shmona at the Galilee Culinary Institute. That’s going to be world class.”

JNF-USA is currently developing 580 new housing sites in the north, Robinson said. “That means we’re taking a leap of faith of people buying homes. I believe everything we’re doing is saying to people, ‘Now is our moment.’ Many people say wouldn’t it have been great to be around in 1948. This is our 1948, raise the flag and be a halutz (pioneer) of the 21 st century. American Jews want to be involved."

He revealed that the fastest-growing segment of new JNF-USA donors is the 22-40-year-olds.

“That’s young people saying, 'Am yisrael chai' [the people of Israel live on] and joining,” he concluded.

An Israeli aerial strike on Monday killed the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad's rocket and missile unit in the Rafah area of southern Gaza.

Ahmed Aish Salame al-Hashash was embedded and operating inside the humanitarian zone in Khan Yunis when he was eliminated in the precision attack, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

"Al-Hashash was responsible for the Islamic Jihad’s rocket attacks in the Rafah Brigade and was an important source of knowledge [...] within the Islamic Jihad terror organization in Gaza," the IDF said.

"During the war, al-Hashash was responsible for firing rockets from inside the Humanitarian Zone toward Israeli civilians."

The military emphasized that before conducting the strike, many steps were taken to minimize the threat to noncombatants, including the choice of munitions, aerial surveillance and the collection of additional intelligence.

"The terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip continue to systematically abuse civilian and humanitarian infrastructure to carry out terrorist activities and attacks on Israeli civilians," the IDF statement concluded.

"The IDF will continue to operate against the terrorist organizations in defense of the State of Israel."

Soldier seriously wounded

A reserve soldier in the IDF's 846th Battalion, Givati Brigade, was seriously wounded during combat operations in the southern Gaza Strip, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said on Tuesday morning.

He was evacuated to a hospital for treatment and his family was notified.

IDF’s 5th Brigade deployed to Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor

The Israel Defense Forces’ 5th Infantry Brigade has been stationed in the Netzarim Corridor that splits the Gaza Strip between north and south, the army announced on Monday.

It is the second time the brigade has operated in the coastal enclave since Israeli forces entered the territory on Oct. 27.

The brigade’s first tour of duty entailed protecting Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip in the first days of the war and ridding them of terrorists, before months of combat in the areas of Beit Hanun, Kherbat Ahzaa and the central corridor.

The brigade falls under the command of the 252nd Division, which in recent months has been operating against Hamas and working to expand the axis dividing the northern and southern Strip.

“In the last few days, the brigade’s fighters completed a series of training and exercises at the Ground Forces Training Center (GTC). The forces carried out training and exercises in warfare in open and built-up areas and raised their operational competence in preparation for their mission in the center of the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said.

“In addition, the forces completed logistical preparation and held mobility, supplies and immediate medical response training in preparation for the fighting.”

Outrage dissipates with time. Left unattended, the aggrieved become inured. Allow wrongdoers to go unpunished and forgiveness is presumed. The once extraordinary, improbably, becomes quite ordinary. The moral universe demands justice, but not the world of moral ambiguity.

We just passed the 23-year anniversary of 9/11. While there was some gridlock in lower Manhattan to mark the reading of names of the 3,000 people pulverized by the evil of Islamic extremism, the collapse of the Twin Towers has, for far too many, become a distant memory that evokes little reaction.

We are coming upon another landmark date imbued with anti-American animus—the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel. So recent is this atrocity that no reminder is necessary—at least not yet. It’s too soon to forget that 1,200 were murdered, many in unspeakable ways, and hundreds taken hostage.

The perpetrators of this crime were Islamists, too. No other people on the planet has such affinity for beheadings and torching their victims alive.

Why do I refer to 10/7 as an “anti-American” attack? It took place in Israel, after all, and Jews were its primary victims.

Yes, but 43 Americans were killed on that day, and of the 11 Americans taken hostage, one, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was found murdered just two weeks ago. Several still remain captive in Gaza: Omer Neutra, a 23-year-old from Long Island, 64-year-old Keith Samuel Seigel from North Carolina and 20-year-old Edan Alexander from New Jersey.

Meanwhile, at pro-Hamas encampments and violent demonstrations around the United States, including at this nation’s capital, the American flag has been set aflame and the words “Death to America!” widely chanted.

The Israelis don’t resemble canaries or coal miners, but they have been providing early warning signals that we share the same enemy: Islamic terrorists.

What is the Biden administration doing about it? Is anyone doing anything to induce Islamists to reverse course or face the consequences?

Actually, antisemitism, and its anti-American offshoots, has only gotten worse since 10/7. Pandora was no Jew, but she did have the Midas touch when it came to unleashing a newly lethal strain of antisemitism that comes with a buyer’s warranty: Go ahead. Kill Jews. No one will stop you, especially if you're an Islamic terrorist.

World leaders have actually shown themselves to be decent recruiters for Islamic extremism. Great Britain has suspended some arms export licenses to Israel while at the same time renewing its aid to UNRWA—yes, the same refugee agency that we have since come to learn actively participated in killing Jews on Oct. 7, and maintained a presence directly above those tunnels.

Unlike the United States, Europeans have expansive hate speech laws, but they don’t seem to apply to the open hostility toward European Jews on the streets of major capitals.

Meanwhile, in America, Biden blames Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the failure to reach a ceasefire, has delayed arms shipments, nonchalantly advises him to “take the win” and informs the press that Israel’s self-defense is “over the top.” I don’t recall anyone berating George W. Bush and Barack Obama that America’s war against Al-Qaeda and search for Osama bin Laden was excessive.

Certainly not Israel, which was among the first Western nations to erect a 9/11 memorial—a slightly different reaction to that of Palestinians, in both the West Bank and Gaza, who threw candy in celebration of all those dead Americans.

Does the United States have any commemorative plans for Oct. 7? I hear that the good Muslims of Dearborn, Michigan have been baking a cake for weeks.

No surprise that the morons at the University of Maryland granted permission, since retracted, to celebrate Oct. 7 as that glorious day when Hamas successfully outwitted the Israelis and barbarically murdered 1,200 people.

Why not just turn 10/7 into a nationwide Homecoming? After all, the violence that took place on college campuses last year—the harassment of Jewish students, the death chants against Israel and America and the seizure of university buildings—resulted in no one forfeiting a diploma, or facing suspension or criminal charges. Instead, they all became avatars of the First Amendment.

Pro-Hamas sentiment has already returned to the campus green. We can look forward to another year where antisemitic academics convince their brainless charges that hating Jews is the only subject that doesn’t get graded on a curve. And where supporting murderous Palestinians is deemed far more important than reading Proust.

This past week, Jewish students from Manhattan’s City College found themselves barricaded into a Jewish deli on Broadway with an angry mob taunting them to come out. I hear that this entire throng of keffiyeh-wearing thugs will be inducted into Phi Beta Kappa this week.

Why shouldn’t they? The day after six hostages were found murdered in one of those Gaza tunnels, giddy, pro-Hamas celebrants marched through Manhattan pounding on drums. A Muslim from Toronto with Islamic State ties was apprehended before fulfilling his mission: a mass shooting at a Brooklyn Jewish center.

New York City was once derisively referred to as “Hymietown.” Today, it is more visibly a Hamas bastion.

Speaking of those hostages, especially the Americans: How is it possible that we have allowed nearly a year to pass without demanding their release, or rescuing them ourselves? The United States should have reclaimed Goldberg-Polin long before his murder. Isn’t that the very least to be expected of a superpower?

A citizen of ancient Rome knew that no matter where he or she traveled, no harm could ever befall them. No faraway land would dare. All they had to do was deliver the following warning: “Cīvis Rōmānus sum.” (“I am a Roman citizen.”)

Those simple words would bring foreign despots and lawless pirates to their knees. Roman wrath was so mighty, its demonstrated capacity for lethal retaliation so fierce, the citizen would be instantly placed on a chariot, along with a fruit basket for the emperor, and returned safely to Rome.

After World War II, and the end of the Cold War, wasn’t the United States declared the world’s most powerful nation? Obviously, not in the same way as the Roman Empire. In 1979, American hostages were taken in Iran. Al-Qaeda delivered a mortal blow on 9/11. Dead and captive Americans resulted from 10/7.

Clearly, Islamists burn the United States in effigy, and celebrate our defeats, because they have nothing to fear.

Our American hostages, tormented in the tunnels of Gaza, must have lamented that it would do no good to proclaim: “Civis Americanus Sum!”

Originally published by the Jewish Journal.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi vowed on Monday to keep up Tehran's "unlimited support" for terror groups throughout the region while avoiding a direct clash with Israel, according to official Iranian media.

The policy of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's government is to "provide unlimited support to the resistance," said Araghchi. "We will support the resistance front, which has established itself as a reality in the region."

The "Axis of Resistance" includes Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Yemen's Houthi rebels and other Iranian-backed terrorist groups in the Middle East.

The Israeli army "has so far failed to achieve its main goal of destroying Hamas," Araghchi claimed in remarks cited by the Tasnim news agency.

The diplomat stressed that the Islamic Republic "remains vigilant against traps that might be set to draw us into the conflict. We are monitoring regional developments with intelligence and awareness."

In separate remarks at a press conference on Monday, Pezeshkian told reporters that his government would "never" give up its ballistic missile program as demanded by the United States and European nations.

"If we don't have missiles, they will bomb us whenever they want, just like in Gaza," he charged, calling on the international community "to first disarm Israel before making the same demands to Iran."

The Islamic Republic, he claimed, "has never been the initiator of war, and the history of the past 100 years shows that we have not been an initiator of war."

On April 14, Iran launched 300 drones and missiles at Israel in the first-ever direct attack on the Jewish state from Iranian soil. It said the attack was retaliation for a strike that killed a top Iranian general in Damascus.

In June, Tehran threatened that an Israel Defense Forces operation against Lebanese Hezbollah terrorists could lead to an "obliterating war" with all of Iran's proxies, warning that "all options are on the table."

Iran has also threatened revenge following the July 31 assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the top "political" leader of Hamas, who died in an explosion at his Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps guesthouse in Tehran. Iran and Hamas have accused Israel of killing Haniyeh.

There have also been Iranian threats of a push toward a nuclear bomb. In May, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said that Tehran would weaponize its nuclear program if Israel "threatens its existence."

Araghchi's interim predecessor, Ali Bagheri Kani, said on July 15 that Hamas's Oct. 7 cross-border massacre in Israel's northwestern Negev region shifted the balance in the Middle East "in favor of the resistance."

As many as 500 terrorists affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad based in the Gaza Strip trained in Iran leading up to the Oct. 7 assault, The Wall Street Journal reported in late October.

Iran has officially hailed the attacks as a "success," saying the murder of some 1,200 people, mainly Jewish civilians, was a response to the 2020 killing of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani by the United States.

The New Tolerance Campaign (NTC), a U.S.-based watchdog organization, announced on Monday a $1 million offer to “Queers for Palestine” or any U.S. LGBTQ advocacy organization to host a Gay Pride Parade in Gaza or Judea and Samaria.

“This isn’t a joke. It’s not a publicity stunt. Our offer is real,” NTC President Gregory T. Angelo, who is gay and the former president of Log Cabin Republicans, said in a statement on the organization's website.

“For the past year we’ve seen so-called ‘Queers for Palestine’ and allied LGBTQ organizations insist that the Palestinian territories are ‘inclusive’ — well, here’s their chance to prove it. We’re willing to put our money where their mouths are to underwrite a Gay Pride Parade in Gaza or the West Bank.”

NTC has secured commitments for the $1,000,000 prize, which is being offered to potential parade organizers. The offer is good for the next six months, until March 16, 2025.

NTC said it had attempted to publicize the campaign with full-page ads in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today. All three newspapers declined, citing safety concerns.

Times Square in New York City also declined to run the ad, saying the buildings displaying it could become targets of violence.

Not to be deterred, NTC began circulating mobile billboards on Monday around Columbia University in Manhattan, the headquarters of the Human Rights Campaign in Washington, D.C. and the University of California, Los Angeles.

The mobile billboards will run through Wednesday. Additional dates may be announced.

"The campaign will also allow everyday Americans to send messages directly to the senior leadership of the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, the LGBTQ Task Force, and Advocates for Trans Equality encouraging them to actually fight for LGBTQ rights rather than taking a political stance against the only gay-friendly country in the Middle East, Israel," NTC's website stated.

“This project highlights the lack of human rights for the LGBTQ community in Palestine, while noting LGBTQ people live freely in Israel. It also has the potential to be a breakthrough moment for pluralism and peace throughout the Arab world,” said Angelo.

According to the rules of the challenge, the recipient group must be a recognized U.S. 501(c)3 organization, the parade march must be at least one kilometer (approximately half a mile) in length and on a major street, and include at least 200 participants, 80% of whom must be Palestinian and from Judea and Samaria or Gaza.

In addition, participants must outwardly “show” LGBTQ pride symbols or dress, including but not limited to rainbow flags, trans flags, full leather outfits, or drag.

At least half of parade signs must be in Arabic and the parade filmed by NTC.

California high-school golf phenom Max Margolis, 17, played 101 holes on Sunday at the Caesarea Golf Club, in the baking sun, to raise money for Israeli victims of terror.

He originally planned to play an even 100 holes, but added the extra one to represent the 101 hostages still in Hamas captivity in Gaza. 

Margolis, who is visiting Israel for the first time, told JNS that prior to the Oct. 7, he hadn't felt connected to the Jewish state, but the massacre on that Simchat Torah holiday "spurred a religious revival in me, and I feel way more connected to Judaism. What happened here that day was really an attack on the Jewish people.”

His response was to launch a $1 million fundraising campaign to benefit the organization OneFamily, which has been assisting victims of terrorism and their families since 2001.

After hearing from his father, Michael—who visited Israel in February—about the devastating situation of the families in the south, the teenager decided that he, too, wanted to take a trip to Israel, and to use his passion and talent for golf to assist in some way.

Michael Margolis told JNS he was so inspired when he saw up close the kind of work that OneFamily does that he and his decided to get involved in the organization. They did this first by “adopting” a family from a community near the Gaza border whose matriarch was raped and murdered by Hamas in front of her two small children.

“Meeting the victims face to face breaks your heart, and it's also life-changing. When Max heard about it, he was inspired to help in any way he could,” said Michael.

It is thus that on Sunday at around 6 a.m. Max Margolis teed up in Caesarea and played what he described was a “golf marathon,” finishing late in the afternoon.

As difficult and exhausting as that feat was, Margolis said that the highlight of his day, and of his entire Israel experience so far, was “after the 101 holes, OneFamily brought a group of victims of terrorism—children and adults—to the course, and I spent some two hours teaching them the game of golf.”

He added, “It was so touching and powerful to spend time with them, and to give them a joyful and fun afternoon. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

Following the golf lesson, OneFamily treated the victims of terror in attendance, along with the Margolises, to a barbeque at the Caesarea home of one of the organization’s donors.

Chantal Belzberg, OneFamily’s founder and executive chairman, told JNS, “It is incredible to see a young, athletic teenager say, ‘I’m going to dedicate my time for an important cause in Israel.’ I was totally blown away.”

She added, “No kid has ever said he wants to raise a million dollars. I’ve never seen anything like this before. Max is so special.”

Belzberg shared that Max arrived at the golf course on foot, while it was still dark outside, and spent the whole day playing and greeting people with grace and charm.

“He had so much patience and warmth, and took the time to talk to everybody," she said. "He was also genuinely interested in hearing everyone’s stories. He did this like a champ. Unbelievable.”  

Eric Rubin, president of Project Max [Nordau] and global ambassador for the Maccabi World Union, commented to JNS about Max’s initiative.

“Athletes have a big platform that can be used to effect positive outcomes," he said. "Max Margolis, one of the top golf prospects in the United States, is using his platform to speak out for victims of terror—specifically those committed on 10/7.”

Rubin added, “I’m so proud of him for partnering with OneFamily, not only to raise awareness for the victims of 10/7, but for using his sport to raise funds for the people who continue to suffer from that tragic day."

Utilizing the hashtag #SportSpeaksUp, Rubin and Maccabi USA have mobilized, leveraging the large online followings of influential members of the professional sports community to speak up and raise awareness about the plight of the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas. 

After high school, Margolis plans to play golf at Santa Clara University, an NCAA Division I program, with dreams of playing professionally after graduation from college.

He also holds the course record at California’s Stone Eagle Golf course, previously held by professional golfer Jason Day, winner of the PGA championship in 2015, one of tour’s four major tournaments.

But before he pursues those dreams, Margolis is planning a similar golfing event and dinner in California this winter towards his goal of raising the million dollars for terror victims.

“In California, we are too isolated and live very well, but as a Jews from the United States, we all have to our part as well to help,” he said.

Within 24 hours of his golf marathon in Caesarea, Margolis’s OneFamily campaign garnered $70,000. As he stated on his campaign page: “We take so much in our lives for granted, but giving is the greatest gift of all. My goal is to raise $1,000,000; an attainable goal and an opportunity for you to be part of the rehabilitation and reintegration so desperately needed by so many people in Israel.  Open your hearts, then open your wallets.”  

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid met with former U.S. president Barack Obama in Washington on Monday, with the two political leaders discussing advancing a deal to return the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

"I met with former President Barack Obama at his office in Washington," the head of the Yesh Atid party tweeted on Tuesday morning.

"I thanked him for his public support and his efforts to secure the return of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza. I told him that we all need to work together to ensure a deal that will bring the hostages home," he wrote.

Lapid also visited the White House on Monday, meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to talk about the 101 hostages remaining in Gaza and a potential ceasefire agreement to secure their release after nearly a year of captivity.

He was also scheduled to meet on Monday with South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham during his D.C. diplomatic swing.

Israel's Security Cabinet overnight Monday added returning Israelis displaced from their homes in the north to the country's war goals, bringing a potential major confrontation with Hezbollah in Lebanon closer to reality.

"The Security Cabinet has updated the objectives of the war to include the following: Returning the residents of the north securely to their homes," the Prime Minister's Office said in a terse statement on Tuesday morning. "Israel will continue to act to implement this objective."

According to government figures, over 60,000 people have been evacuated from their residences near the Lebanese border since last October, when the Iranian-backed terror army began near-daily rocket and drone attacks in support of Hamas, after the Gaza-based terror group initiated a war by invading the northwestern Negev.

Communities in the Galilee and Golan have become increasingly frustrated at the ongoing attacks and the government's response in Jerusalem.

According to Channel 12, the military is discussing an expanded operation in Lebanon, including the timing and the details.

"In the military, there's a reluctance to repeat the precedent set in Gaza, where the objectives of the war were not clearly defined" ahead of time, according to the report.

"Instead, they have established several clear targets for defining the success of the operation. Among these targets are: the return of residents, a significant buildup of forces along the border, and pushing Hezbollah forces away from the border. A senior security official stated that preparations should be made for a prolonged campaign that will exact a heavy toll."

According to the Channel 12 report, "In the IDF, they are convinced that the State of Israel has passed the [tipping point]—that there is no resolution and the situation is escalating, and no one is saying anything different.

"This has enormous implications, but in the security establishment, there is a firm belief that Israel cannot, at this stage, be satisfied with a 'targeted operation' like those seen in previous years in Gaza, for example. They believe that a broad and comprehensive action throughout Lebanon, including Dahieh [a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut], is necessary."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. presidential envoy Amos Hochstein on Monday that the thousands of displaced Israelis will not be able to return without military or diplomatic action against the terror group.

Netanyahu “made it very clear that it will not be possible to return our residents without a fundamental change in the security situation in the north,” according to a readout from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.

While Jerusalem “appreciates and respects” the Biden administration’s support, it will “ultimately do what is necessary to safeguard its security and return the residents of the north securely to their homes,” he told Hochstein during a meeting at Israel Defense Forces headquarters in Tel Aviv.

The additional war goal comes amid reports that Netanyahu is considering replacing Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant with New Hope Party leader Gideon Sa’ar.

Gallant for his part publicly supports an expanded military operation to remove the Hezbollah threat in the north, telling his American counterpart Lloyd Austin during a call on Monday that time was running out for an agreed-upon de-escalation with the terror proxy.

“The possibility of a settlement in the north is passing. Hezbollah continues to tie itself to Hamas. The direction is clear,” Gallant told Austin in an overnight phone call, according to the Defense Ministry.

Gallant also met with Hochstein on Monday. The Biden envoy reportedly warned that a major military operation against Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon will not bring about the return of Israel's displaced residents.

Hochstein informed Gallant that the United States supports a diplomatic deal with Hezbollah, including through a truce with Hamas terrorists in Gaza, a source familiar with the conversation told local media. The United States envoy warned that military action would raise the risk of all-out regional war.

Gallant was said to have informed the White House envoy that only Israeli military action against Hezbollah can create conditions that will allow Israel to return the evacuees to their homes safely.